“Why just 24 hours? It’s not enough time…”

“I’m not a creature of your world… I can’t be out of my element for too long. Not without any special powers anyway…”

Standing on the side of the Han River and almost under the bridge, G.O and Syrena were saying their reluctant goodbyes as there was only five minutes left before the medallion had to turn into ashes.

He was gently holding her by her waist with one hand while he pushed some strands of her hair behind her ear, ending up by cupping her cheek as she leaned into his touch with her head tilting to the side. He kept softly whispering to her how much he didn’t want her to leave and how crazy he was for her making her respond with kisses with his every phrases.

“When can I see you again?”

“Tomorrow. Come and find me here; I’ll wait for you.”

She places her hands by his neck and pulls him towards her for one last kiss before pulling herself away as she made her way over the edge of the water. “We’ll find a way Byunghee. I know we will.”

He could only nod as words were restrained into his throat, not being able to come out.

“By the way, I like what you did with the crown; it suits you.” She smiled at him before she slipped into the water transforming her back into a mermaid as the medallion disappeared, in the blink of an eye. Before leaving, she held herself onto the small rocks where G.O came to sit in front of her.

Just like last time, she lifted herself up and kissed him. “Don’t forget me, okay?”

“Never.” With a final kiss on her forehead, she disappeared into the water leaving the boy as he was back up on his feet and watched his love go before turning his back on the water and made his way back to the dorm.

After a sleepless night, G.O quietly walked out of the dorm and drove back to the same location where he left Syrena.

Getting out of his car, he walked towards the edge of the water and patiently waited for her. He took this chance to watch the sunrise letting himself admire it before getting interrupted with a splash of water thrown towards him.

He got up, completely shocked and drenched only to hear a familiar laughter making him look up from the ground to see Syrena swimming his way.

He could only chuckle while shaking his head and sat back down on the ground while she came placing herself between his legs, lifting herself up to place a quick peck on his lips. “Good morning~”

“Good morning to you too.”

“Ready for today?”

“It depends on what you have planned…”

Forming her lips into a smirk, she quickly grabbed onto G.O’s hands and pulled him straight into the water, catching him off guard. She giggled in complete delight and circled him before facing him once again as she jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his neck, crashing her lips against his.

No questions asked, he kissed her back before pulling himself away. “Syrena, what did you have in mind? Why am I in the water?”

“Well, since yesterday was about me in your world, I thought that maybe today we could do it the other way around?”

“Huh? Like m-me as a mermaid?”

“No tail involved, don’t worry~” She chuckled at his frighten sight and took out her necklace that was hanging around her neck. “This will help you with the underwater breathing.”

“Where did you get it?”

“Seriously? I really don’t know. When I woke up this morning I was wearing it and somehow I just knew what purpose it was for…”

“That’s weird…”

“You think? I just see it as a sign.”

“A sign for what?”

“Fate is pushing us back together; at least for another day…” He smiled at her answer and put on the necklace around his neck. Once he was done, he started to undress as he took off his shirt, leaving his upper body with only his black tank top along with his shoes and socks. He threw them back on the rocks and turned back to face Syrena who had one of her breathtaking smile on her face.

“Ready to go?”

A simple nod and she held onto his hand, pulling him further into the water until they were both under the surface. Before starting their journey for the day, Syrena turned back to G.O to see if he was still okay.

“Can you breathe? Does the necklace work?”

Since he couldn’t speak, he nodded letting her know that there wasn’t any problem at all. Going back to holding his hand, she gently pulled him as she started swimming towards the ocean, going deeper and deeper. For now he couldn’t really see since the sun wasn’t really up yet but by the time they reached the big sea, it was already showing its colors in the sky letting it reflect under the water.

More and more of the ocean view came to light leaving him in awe at what he was seeing.

He couldn’t deny the feeling of excitement that was building up inside of him and she could see that, leaving her with a happy feeling.

She lightly quicken in her swim until they finally made it into her secret spot, just a few feet away from the kingdom. With the sun high in the sky, its rays of light were shining through the water showing a new spectacle in front of G.O as he was left with his eyes wide open, another expression of amazement appearing across his face.

“This is my favorite place in all of the sea!” Letting go of his hand, she swims forward with her arms around herself while twirling towards a pillar rock, where she sits. Endless colorful fishes were swimming around along with corals and other sea plants decorating this little area; it felt warm and it was beautiful to look at.

G.O swam his way around admiring the scenery while the mermaid just watched him, enjoying this little moment. She bit the corner of her bottom lip and got up from the rock as she made her way towards the boy. She stood close to him and looked straight into his eyes. “This maybe be my favorite place but… nothing can top off being with you. Wherever we are.” He grinned at her words and leaned his face closer to hers as he grabbed her by her waist and kissed her while she wrapped her arms around him, pushing her body closer to him.

They were flowing in the middle of it all and holding onto each other while, a little bit further away, a figure caught them in the act. Sudden anger was creeping up inside making it swim quickly away and straight into the royal palace, looking for the King.

At that moment, G.O could feel something wrong building up inside of him. Pulling himself away, she noticed the distraught expression on his face and it made her panic. “Byunghee? W-what’s going on?”

He touched his chest to let her know that he couldn’t breathe anymore making her gasp as she tightly grabbed onto him and quickly swam her way up, as fast as she could. Once they reached the surface he gasped for air and held onto Syrena as they were now in the middle of the ocean.

“Byunghee?”

She made him look at her to see if he was okay with his breathing starting to stabilize. She was about to cry and he could see that letting his heart break at the view. “Syrena, don’t worry; I’m fine.”

“We barely got started! I c-can’t understand-”

“It’s okay-”

“No it’s not Byunghee. How long are we going to keep this up? We haven’t even started and there are so many things that is stopping us from being together!”

“Are you already giving up on us?” He couldn’t believe the words coming out of . He knew that she was in pain but he also felt like she was already giving up on everything despite not having giving it a proper try.

“I’m sorry Byunghee… but I don’t think this is a good idea after all. I’ll take you back, just hold on.”

She didn’t give him any chance to respond as she quickly swam back to where they left off, taking them at least an hour until she let go of him as he climbed his way up to the rocks. She was about to turn her back on him when he called her, making her stop.

“Don’t leave me, please.”

“I’m sorry but-”

“No! No ‘but’! I’ve waited a whole year just so I can see you again and there’s no way in hell I’m letting you go! And so what I can’t breathe underwater for more than three hours and you can’t have legs, we can still work this out!”

“And how! Just tell me how are we going to make this work?!”

He jumped back into the water and grabbed her by her shoulders, lightly scaring her in the process. “We’ll find a way. No matter how long it will take, we will find a way to be together. I’m not letting go of that promise. You mean to much too me Syrena; I can’t have you gone into my life after making me the happiest I’ve ever been in such a long time… I don’t want to be alone anymore; I need you, I need you with me.”

Tears in the corner of her eyes, her breathing coming short, she was about to breakdown when he hugged her tightly against his chest. Resting her face in the crook of his neck, he was softly caressing her hair, whispering to her over and over again how much he loved her.

“I love you too Byunghee; I love you so much.”

She tightens her hold around him, not wanting to let him go but soon pulls him away when her head starts to hurt, only meaning one thing. ‘What does he want now?!’

“Syrena? What’s wrong?”

“I have to go; my father is calling for me. I have to hurry…”

“I want to see you again-”

She cuts him off with a deep kiss before whispering into his ear. “The night you will be dreaming about me; come and find me on the next morning. I’ll be waiting for you.”

He nods and she swims deeper into the water before completely disappearing under the surface leaving G.O alone once again.

Once she was far away from the river and back into the ocean, she went as fast as she could to her home where she found an angry father along with her fiancé eyeing her with his glare through his blue eyes.

“Why did you call me hear? What’s wrong?”

“I was informed from the little adventure you just had…” She could suddenly feel the fast pace of her heart, making the nervous feeling inside of her growing by the second. She was afraid of the next words that were about to come out of her father’s mouth; afraid that what she was hiding was about to be revealed and that she would get punished because of it.

“… With a human."